inheriting guns

I did a short search, and will do more when I have a bit more time at night, but I am looking a the steps to get a couple of guns that my dad has in Montana out to me in Virginia. There is a .243 rifle, and an old .22 pistol that his dad owned. The .243 was mine when I lived at home, until i was about 25 or so, and the revolver he inherited when his father died. He is no longer shooting, and I would like to have them, as they do hold sentimental value to me. Since neither gun is , was or has been registered at all, do they still have to pass through an FFL in order for me to get them? Keep in mind, one was mine, and basically got abandoned with him when I moved 20 years ago. I am trying to find out if I have to jump through my own ass in order to get them out here?

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Treo

December 26, 2008, 02:21 PM

I THINK ( key word there) that if you ship them you need an FFL . if you drive out to Montana you can just pick them up and leave

Be advised my opinion is worth EXACTLY what you paid for it :D

I've go to ask why in the name of Gawd would anyone choose Virginia over Montana?

goneracin

December 26, 2008, 05:05 PM

Because Im a moron :banghead:

Actually, I moved out here 15 years ago from Colorado Springs (lived there 5 years) for a job. It was a job only possible in about a dozen shops in the country.
Now, my daughter is in school, and doing well, so there will be no moving for awhile.
Ive also heard from my family still live in MT that its not the same, its becoming the "chic" place for the celebs etc to buy up. I really miss the place, very beautiful

Treo

December 26, 2008, 05:11 PM

Ive also heard from my family still live in MT that its not the same, its becoming the "chic" place for the celebs etc to buy up. I really miss the place, very beautiful

That sucks I keep trying to talk my wife in to getting someplace waaaaaay up in the wind river mountains (Wyoming) but she's not havin' any

nalioth

December 26, 2008, 06:58 PM

Why do people still insist that all guns must be registered?

There is no such thing in the free states.

goneracin

December 26, 2008, 07:03 PM

These are not registered anywhere. Thats I guess why Id like to not have to ship them to an FFL or anything, They were my and my dads guns. I just wanna get em home..... :cool:

zxcvbob

December 26, 2008, 07:15 PM

If you fly our there, you can ship them to yourself. Or you can just go get them and bring them back (even if they were handguns) because they are yours once you take possession of them. If someone else ships them to you, I'm 99% sure they have to ship to an FFL in your state.

If you lived in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, etc, you might have some kind of paperwork hassle once you get them home, but the Feds don't care; they are yours as if you owned them all along.

Grizfire

December 26, 2008, 08:04 PM

I've go to ask why in the name of Gawd would anyone choose Virginia over Montana?

Actually, I moved out here 15 years ago from Colorado Springs (lived there 5 years) for a job.

Yep, no jobs in Montana. I'm ex-Montanan myself.

Californian = ex Montanan

ex-Montanan = Californian

BHP FAN

December 26, 2008, 08:26 PM

I'd love to be an ex-Californian.

WNC Seabee

December 26, 2008, 08:46 PM

I went through this myself just a few weeks ago.

Legally, if "ownership" is transferring between residents of different states, you must use an FFL. This applies to long guns as well as handguns. Makes no difference if you're family.

Luckily, dad and I 'remembered' that he gave me grandpa's guns way back when I stilled lived at home. Dad has just been "storing" them for me the last many years.

zxcvbob

December 26, 2008, 10:42 PM

Legally, if "ownership" is transferring between residents of different states, you must use an FFL. This applies to long guns as well as handguns. Makes no difference if you're family.

Luckily, dad and I 'remembered' that he gave me grandpa's guns way back when I stilled lived at home. Dad has just been "storing" them for me the last many years.

Not true (at least at the federal level.) There is an exception for inheritances. I believe it's right there in GCA'68 somewhere.

jmr40

December 26, 2008, 10:56 PM

Sounds like an excuse for a road trip. I have taken my wife and kids from Georgia to Montana on road trips several times. Not for everyone but it was the times of our lives. We have camped everywhere from Yellowstone to a Walmart parking lot.

Hawaiian

December 26, 2008, 11:06 PM

Sounds like it is time to take a road trip and go visit the family.

goneracin

December 26, 2008, 11:37 PM

we may drive up there this summer. Anyone who has ever driven up there in the winter can attest to how ****ty travel can be this time of year up there. After I moved, I made a "halloween to easter" rule as far as a no travel time....

My daughter graduates this year, might be a cool family vacation.

MAKster

December 27, 2008, 06:16 PM

The OPs father is alive so he is not inheriting these guns. The owner has to be dead for the inheritence exemption to apply.

zxcvbob

December 27, 2008, 06:28 PM

The OPs father is alive so he is not inheriting these guns. The owner has to be dead for the inheritence exemption to apply.

Good point. I missed that in the original message.

NavyLCDR

December 27, 2008, 10:02 PM

The legal answer is this:

1. For the gun that you own which was stored at your dad's: you can go get it and bring it back yourself. That's the easiest way. You can go and ship it to yourself. Good luck with that, simply trying to find a carrier to take it. The rifle can go by US Mail, but getting the post office to do it might be a problem. Your father CANNOT ship guns directly to you, even if they are yours, across state lines, the exemption is only for you shipping guns to yourself.

2. For the gun that you do not own: since it is a handgun, it has to be transferred to you by an FFL in your state. Your dad can ship it to the receiving FFL himself (if the FFL will accept it), being a handgun, it must go by FEDEX or UPS (Federal Law), and according to FEDEX or UPS must go by overnight air (not law, just company policy). If it was a long gun, it could be transferred to you by an FFL in Montana. Your dad could also bring the handgun to an FFL in VA in person for transfer.

I'm not going to say the following on THR, but I am thinking to myself that the common sense thing would be to go get the guns...there is no gun registration in MT or VA, nobody (IE: the BATFE) is really going to care...

The requirements are in 18 USC 922 - google Title 18 Chapter 44 to read it for yourself.

VegasOPM

December 27, 2008, 10:49 PM

When I went through that the first time for a couple of guns, I just brought them home with me on the plane. Check the airlines rules, but a lockable, hard sided case seems to be the norm.

blkbrd666

December 27, 2008, 11:04 PM

Just go get them.

Chukpike

December 27, 2008, 11:11 PM

Should just go get them and bring them back yourself. Just check your state and follow the laws when you get home. I pickup a 22 cal Remington Model 4 rifle and a 22 cal Hi Standard pistol that I inherited from my grandfather and uncle this last year. They were in Missouri.

On bringing them home to California all I had to do was. For the rifle nothing, California does not require registration for rifles. For the pistol I filled out a voluntary registration form online, down loaded it, and sent it to the California Attorney General with $19.00 and they sent back the state registration. Would have been the same to buy a handgun in another state and bring it back.

zoom6zoom

December 28, 2008, 12:55 PM

Not applicable in the current situation, but to add to the info:
If the firearms are actually "bequeathed" in a will, they do not need to be transferred, but can go directly to the beneficiary.

Art Eatman

December 28, 2008, 01:09 PM

The BATFE regs are stickied at the top of the Legal forum main page.

longhair75

December 28, 2008, 09:06 PM

When my brother died in Florida (1981) I flew down to settle his estate. He owned a few long arms and a couple of pistols. I crated them up, marked them as fragile sporting goods and shipped them to Nebraska via UPS.

The hand gun he had on him when he died was booked as evidence. The Miami police sent it to my local police department when the case was closed and I was able to pick it up just by filling out a form.

I am sure the laws are much more restrictive now.

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